It's Official...

I am the worst blogger ever.  I haven't felt very inspired lately, so rather than tell you that, I've been avoiding you.   You know what's funny, that's one of the qualities in people that bug me the most.  Avoiders get on my nerves, yet I sometimes do it.  Do you ever find yourself doing things that are actually pet peeves of yours?  Right now I have Alanis Morisette singing in my head about how ironic such things are.

So, rather than avoid you, I'm going to bore you to death with a little of this and a smattering of that.  In the last few weeks I have been super busy doing a whole lot of stuff, but nothing overly exciting.  I feel like I spend an exorbitant amount of my life keeping my DVR cleared out so I don't get too behind on my fall premiers. Yes, I am my father's daughter. This man will DVR episodes of the Lone Ranger, Andy Griffith and the like.  He watches them like he's never seen them before and has no idea how it will end.  Mind you, he's seen them all countless times.  I'm not THAT bad (yet).  Speaking of my sweet daddy, we celebrated his birthday last week.  It was fun family time and a yummy dinner out.  Can't beat that!

I'm finally adjusting to waking up earlier this year since we start school so dang early.  Mind you, I said I'm adjusting, not liking it. I really need 8 hours of sleep to be at my best, and that is darn hard to do when I have to get up so early.  My bedtime is interfering with said DVR clearing problem.  It really is a vicious cycle, don't you feel sorry for me?

Do Tell-evision

It's time for old favorites and some anticipated new shows to start appearing.  I kicked off premier week with Dancing With the Stars.  Dang, Kristin Cavallari is skinny.  I haven't watched Two and a Half Men in a very long time, but I have my DVR set so I can see how they handle bringing in Ashton to replace Charlie.  I'm not too proud to tell you that I have 2 DVR's that are strategically programmed and will be working overtime.  One new show I am looking forward to is Revenge on Wednesday night.  I'm secretly hoping that some of the shows I am looking forward to aren't that good so I don't get sucked in.  My one hope is that I can find a Friday night show that I will look forward to even half as much as I did Friday Night Lights.  Without it, I fear, I may be out on the streets lookin' for trouble.  Do tell, what shows are you most looking forward to this season?

It's All in the Presentation

You know that old saying?  Well, it's certainly true in this case.  We had a great time last week when we attended a cooking class put on by the chef at Waterfront Grill.  The chef was very friendly and talkative, and we were with some of our favorite people in the world, so how bad can that be, right?  I would say this particular place does more of a demo, rather than a class.  There is no hands on cooking for the audience and it's really on the chef to put on a show of sorts.  I have heard from many folks about this "must try" Crab and Avocado Stack.  Here's the chef working hard on building one.

What you can't see here, thanks to my fab photog skills, is that he's building the stack inside a PVC pipe. That's a fun little trick to file away in my "hey, I should try that" part of my brain 



Here's the finished product, it's purty.  The bottom is the avocado, mango in the middle, and crab on top.  That's red pepper and bacon garnish, 'cause we all know that bacon makes everything better, right?  I can hear you asking how in the world do you eat this thing.  We asked the chef that very thing. 

This is what he did to our pretty little stack.  He literally took a fork and knocked the whole thing down like a house of cards, then gave us tortilla chips for dipping.  So folks, as you can see, this version of crab dip really is all in the presentation.  I will say that I liked it, but it wasn't really anything to rave about.  While most people thought this thing was the star of the show, I was much more smitten with the Seared Ahi Tuna with Asian Slaw that had a delish cilantro ginger dressing, and the Chicken Piccatta was one of the best I've had. I'm not one to order chicken dishes at a restaurant because I make a lot of chicken at home.  This dish may have changed my mind.

Never Forget

Where were you when the world stopped turnin', that September day?

There Was an Old Lady...

Oh my goodness y'all, do I feel old!  It was all I could muster over the long weekend to somewhat ready myself to vlog, and I am just in the bloggy dumps I guess.  I think it gets harder every year for me to get back into the swing of things when school starts.  The cherry on top of this year is that school starts an hour earlier.  If you  know me at all, you know this is Terrible (yes, with a capital T)news.  The up side is supposed to be that we get out earlier.  When my kids were younger and we had lots of running around to lessons and things to do after school this would be great.  Fast forward to right now when both my kids drive and are really not dependent on my schedule at all.  I basically want to eat dinner at 4:00 so I can get to bed in time to not be dead dog tired the next morning.  Since my parents retired they eat dinner at around 4:00, maybe I should have them set me a place at their table. I feel like I go to work, make dinner, then go to bed all to start it over the next day.  I have turned down lots of invites to do fun stuff through the week and have even cancelled plans that were already made because I'm tired.  What gives?  I'm not THAT old.  What's a girl to do?!  Suggestions to get me out of this old lady slump are welcome. 

Accent Vlog

I finally am posting my accent vlog.  I've really enjoyed watching these the past few days.  I have been totally lazy this weekend and haven't even gotten myself presentable enough to make the video until today.  Please overlook the fact that it looks like I have a propeller on my head since the fan is behind me.  If I watch this thing too many times I will never post it, so embarrassing to watch myself!  Yes, I know I need to sit up straight. 

The instructions are to say these words:
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught
And answer these questions:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you use to change the TV channel?

Here you have it: